Micromanipulator



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v ESEARCH ROW May 6,1952

J. MONCHABLON MICROMANIPULATOR Filed Aug. '7, 1947 Patented May 6, 1952 TSEARCH ROOM OFFICE MICROMANIPULAT OR Jacques Monchablon, Marignane, France Application August 7, 1947, Serial No. 767,167 In France November 21, 1940 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires November 21, 1960 6 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to micromanipulators (such for instance as used in histolo y, bacteriology, etc.) and its object is to provid an apparatus of this kind which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than those made up to this time, in particular from the point of view of simplicity of construction, ease of operation and accuracy.

A preferred embodiment of my invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, given merely by way of example, and in which:

The only figure is a diagrammatic perspective view of a micromanipulator made according to my invention.

The micromani'pulator shown by the drawing is mounted in a casing or support I of suitable shape the base of which is shown in solid lines while its sides are diagrammatically shown in dotted lines; on this base of support I is fixed an angle piece 2 constituting a bearing for a journal 3 for the oscillation of a piece or block 4. This block is provided at its front end with a disc 5 fixed therewith, coaxial. with journal 3 and fitted with an axial spindle 6 rigid therewith around which is wound the end of a string I connected to the end of a rod 8 of the needle holder, a return spring 9 being provided at the end of this string 1.

Perpendicularly to the axis of journal 3 there is journalled in block 4 a shaft which carries, rigid therewith, on the right hand side of block 4, a disc I having an axial spindle 6a fixed thereto, around which spindle is wound a string I I passing about a return pulley I2 and secured to the end of the needle holder rod 8.

Said shaft carries, rigidly mounted on its left hand end, a rod I3 bent at right angles so as to have a vertical portion, which is connected through a coupling piece I4 with a rod I which constitutes the single control member of the micromanipulator. This rod I5 is engaged at its lower part in a flexible sleeve IB, such as arubber tube, which connects -rod I5 with a threaded rod II capable of rotating freely in base I. On this rod H can move a nut IIa rigid with a rod I8 on which is fixed a string I9 connected to the end of needle holder 8 and also provided with a return spring 20 in line therewith.

The rod 8 of the needle holder is fixed in an adjustable piece 2| provided with return springs 22 and 23. On the free end of the rod 8. of the. needle "holder is fixedlthelclip 24 which holds needle 25, shownin'do'tted lines.

Each of the discs 5' and I0 is provided'with a vvfixation point it) to which are secured the ends of strings Ia. and Na connected to strings I and II and stretched by pulling member 26.

This mlcromanipulator works as follows:

First, it should be well understood that when the handle provided at the top of rod I5 is urged toward either the right hand side (arrow Ba) or the left hand side (arrow Aa), coupling piec I4, rod I3 and block 4 are caused to rotate about the axis of bearing 2 with respect to support I. Movementof rod I5 to correspond to this rotation is made possible by the deformable connection I6 existing between said rod and support I.

In its position of rest the needle carrying rod 8 is in a horizontal position, same as block 4, and control rod I5 is ina vertical position. If, now, it is desired to move needle 25 towards the right (direction A) it suflices to move the handle of rod I5 towards the left (direction Aa) which will have for its effect, as above explained, to rotate block 4 in a counter-clockwise direction and to cause axial spindle 6 to rotate about its axis, thus exerting on string I a pull which will stretch spring 9 and move toward the left the end of rod 8, the point of oscillation of which is constituted by the centre of piece 2 I.

In order to move needle 25 towards the left (direction B) it sufilces to move the handle of rod I5 towards the right (direction Ba) which ing rod I8 to pivot upwardly and relieving string I9, which enables return spring 20 to contract so as to move rod 8 upwardly. As this rod pivots about portion 2|, it willcause the point ofneedle 25 to move downwardly. Movement of the needle in the upward direction (D) will also take place by rotating rod I5 upon itself, but in the opposite direction (direction Da) which has for its effect.

to move nut l-la downwardly on threaded rod II,

,to move rod 8' downwardly while stretching spring 20, and to move theend of needle 25 upwardly. Upward and downward vertical displacements of needle 25. are thisjensured in a vertical p'laneb'y rotation of rod I5 about itself in one directiorl or the other.

Displacement of needle 25 in the longitudinal direction E is obtained by pulling rod l5 rearwardly, which has for its effect to rotate spindle Ba about its axis and thus to pull string l I, which, through return pulley l2, drives rod 8 frontwardly and imparts. this horizontal movement to piece 2 I, while stretching springs 22 and 23. Backward movement of needle 25 will be obtained by bringing rod back to its initial position, which will relieve string H and enable springs 22 and 23 to move needle 25 toward its initial position.

These two longitudinal displacements are thus obtained by a third kind of displacement of rod l5.

If it is desired to increase the amplitude of the displacements above described, it suffices to stretch strings la and Ha by means of pulling member 26, As their points of fixation 612 on discs 5 and III are at a distance much greater than the radius of spindles 6 and '61:, it will be understood that the displacements of needle 25 in the horizontal plane are considerably increased.

Due to the simplicity of its construction and operation and to the precision of its working, my apparatus constitutes a very important improvement in the art. Furthermore, it is very cheap to manufacture.

What I claim is:

1. A micromanipulator for controlling the displacements of an object which comprises, in combination, a holder of elongated shape for said object, a support for-said holder, a plurality of springs norm-ally located in the same plane at right angles to the longitudinal direction of said holder interposed between said support and points of an intermediate portion of said holder for free elastic suspension of said holder, a single control member movably carried by said support, three strings secured to said holder at a point thereof at a distance from the plane of said springs, means between said control member and one of said strings for pulling said last mentioned string in one direction at right angles to said longitudinal direction in response to a given kind of displacements of said member with respect to said support, a spring between said support and the point of fixation to said holder of said last mentioned string for opposing the pulling thereof in said direction, means between said .control member and another of said strings for pulling said last mentioned string in another direction at right angles to said longitudinal direction in response to another kind of displacement of said member with respect to said support, a spring between said support and the point of fixation to said holder of said last mentioned string for opposing the pulling thereof in said last mentioned direction, said springs being normally located in the same plane, at right angles to said longitudinal direction, and means between said control member and the point of fixation to said holder of the third of said strings for pulling said third string in said longitudinal direction in response to a third kind of displacement of said member with respect to said support.

2. A micromanipulator according to claim 1 including three driving pieces movably mounted with respect to said support and operatively connected to said control member to be rotated about three different respective axes in response to said displacements of three different kinds of said control member, said strings being fixed to said driving pieces respectively at points thereof distant from their respective axes of rotation, said pieces belonging to the means for pulling said strings.

3. A micromanipulator according to claim 2 further including supplementary string elements each interposed between a point of one of said first mentioned strings and a point of the corresponding driving piece located at a distance from the axis of said piece greater than the distance from the first mentioned point of fixation of the corresponding first mentioned string to said driving piece, said string elements being normally loose, and means for stretching said string elements to make them effective as transmission means between said driving pieces and said holder.

4. A micromanipulator according to claim 2 in which said control member includes two rod portions, one of said rod portions being journalled about its own axis in said support, and a rubber sleeve for coupling said first rod portion with the second one, the three kinds of movements of said member consisting in oscillations of the second rod portion in two different planes passing through said last mentioned axis and a rotation of said second rod about its own axis.

5. A micromanipulator for controlling the displacement of an object which comprises, in combination, a suppo'it', holder for said object, elastic suspension means deformable in three distinct spatial directions interposed between said support and a central portion of said holder, three strings fixed to said holder at a distance from said central portion, a single control member movably carried by said support to have three distinct kinds of displacement with respect thereto, transmission means between said control member and said strings to pull them in the respective directions of the three axes of a three dimensional system of coordinates in response to said three kinds of displacement of said control member respectively, and spring means interposed between said support and said holder for yieldingly opposing the pulling actions of said strings.

\/ 6. A micromanipulator for controlling the displacements of an object which comprises, in combinati n, a o gggisl usaiedshaneig Said obje cgi, mama for said holder, a plurality'bf springs normally located in the same plane at right angles to the longitudinal direction of said holder interposed between said support and points of an intermediate portion of said holder for free elastic suspension thereof, a single control member movably carried by said support, a block pivoted to saidsupport about an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of said holder, a spindle rigid with said block and located along said pivot axis thereof, a string interposed between the periphery of said spindle and a point of said holder located at a distance from the plane of said springs to pull said point of said holder in a direction at right angles to the longitudinal direction of said holder in response to a rotation of said spindle in one direction, spring means. between said point of said holder and said support for directly opposing the pull exerted by said string, a shaft journalled in said block at right angles to the pivot axis thereof, a disc rigid with said shaft, a spindle fixed to said disc, a string interposed between the periphery of said last mentioned spindle and a point of said holder to pull said holder at least substantially in the longitudinal direction thereof in response to a rotation of the second mentioned spindle in one direction, means interposed between said second men- SEARCH 8001' tioned spindle and said control member for causing said block to rotate about its pivot axis in response to a first kind of displacement of said control member and said second mentioned spindle to pivot about its own axis in response to a second kind of displacement of said control member, a third string secured to said holder at a point thereof located at a distance from the plane of the holder suspension springs, means interposed between said control member and the last mentioned string for pulling said string in a direction at right angles to both the longitudinal direction of said holder and the pulling direction of the first mentioned string in response to a third kind of displacement of said control member, and spring means between said holder and said support for directly opposing the pull exerted by the third mentioned string.

JACQUES MONCHABLON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

